Tear gas clouds the Olympics, but the Games will probably go on

For the past six years, South Korea has labored to make the 1988 Summer Olympic Games -- the 24th of the modern Olympiad -- into a statement of the country's arrival as a sophisticated and confident middle power. But amid last week's tear gas and flaming Molotov cocktails, the linked rings of the Olympic flag had become not only a symbol of national aspirations but also an emblem of international worry. Around the world, a growing number of sports and political figures were voicing concern about whether South Korea would be able to stage the Games free from boycotts or violence,...